Vlad Phantom
by Ilovetowrite75
Summary: AU where Vlad didn't become the evil Plasmius, but rather the ghostly hero we all know as Phantom. Follow, Vlad, Jack, and Maddie along on their college adventures as they fight ghosts in 1980s Wisconsin while also trying to deal with the more ordinary pratfalls of young adulthood.
1. Only The Beginning

Wisconsin University, September 1980

After driving for about 2 hours, eighteen-year-old Vladimir Masters, or Vlad, as everyone called him, finally arrived at the leafy campus of Wisconsin University, the place that would be his home for the next four years. His mother, Olga, sat in the passenger seat of his beat-up, burgundy 1967 Chevy Impala. She was fiddling with her many dime-store bracelets, unable to face the reality ahead of her. Her baby was leaving home. Vlad could see the pain in her eyes, although she refused to meet his gaze for fear that she would burst into tears. He knew that she was incredibly proud of him, but like any mother, it was hard for her to let go. Vlad turned and studied his mother, as he was wont to do. He had always been an observer, silently taking in everything around him in order to determine his next move. Not that he was manipulative; far from it. But a lifetime of uncertainty had taught him to always be one step ahead. She was still so beautiful to him, despite the fact that her platnium blonde hair had large streaks of white, and her blue eyes had wrinkles of fatigue around them. Years of working the night shift and living paycheck to paycheck had worn her down and made her look much older than her thirty-four years.

" _Mama_ ," Vlad asked, quickly switching into her native Russian. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, _Vova,"_ she replied, using her pet name for him. "But you know how I hate goodbyes." It was true; for as long as Vlad could remember, his mother had dragged out goodbyes for as long as possible, hating to see people go. Vlad picked up his duffel bag and pulled his rolling suitcase out of the backseat, stopping his diminutive mother from helping him. She was weak enough as it was; he didn't want her working any harder than she had to. He didn't bring much, just clothes, toiletries, and a few books. He didn't own much anyway.

Olga turned up to look at her son, so proud of his accomplisments: He had earned a full chemistry scholarship! But it was still excruciating to let go of the little boy she had devoted most of her life to; the little boy that was now a man. Tears filled her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that day, but this time she couldn't stop them and before she knew it she was sobbing right there in the dormitory parking lot.

"Oh, _Vova_ " she blubbered. "Where did all the time go? Just yesterday I was dropping you off at your first day of kindegarten!" She threw her arms around his neck and continued to sob.

"I know, _Mama_ , I know," he whispered, gently patting her back.

"Are you sure you'll be safe here?" She asked. "I've heard about the things that go on at colleges, and it would just kill me if you ever got hurt-"

"Mama, calm down." He cut her off before she could work herself into a frenzy. "Don't worry about me. I know how to take care of myself." He leaned in closer to her so no one else would hear. "I brought my pistol." His cousin Roger gave it to him when he was fourteen, for protection. He'd grown up in a particularly dangerous area of Chicago. Olga relaxed after hearing that, comforted in the knowledge that her son had a means of self-defense. "As soon as I get a job," Vlad continued, "half of my paycheck goes to you."

"Vladimir, no, you need to support yourself," She replied, protesting their arrangement for the umpteenth time. She hated to take handouts from anyone, even her own son. And more than that, she wanted Vlad to have everything he could get his hands on after a childhood of just barely scrimping by.

"No, _Mama_ " Vlad said. "We worked this out nearly a year ago. Now, are you sure you're okay taking the bus? I can drive you back if you need me to."

"I'll be fine," she responded, wiping the last of the tears from her eyes. "If you ever need me, just call." She gave him a long, tight hug, not wanting to let go. "I love you, _Vova_ She said, her voice thick with emotion.

"I love you too, _Mama_ " he replied, quicky wiping away the tears in his eyes. He was going to miss her terribly. But he had to carve out his own path and become his own person, and to do that he was going to have cut himself off from his mother, no matter how painful that might be. Olga hugged her son one last time before walking off into the distance. The bus stop was only a few blocks away, but the walk felt like an eternity.

Vlad watched his mother walk off until she he could see no more of her, and then he finally turned around and opened the door to his dorm building, walking up the second set of stairs to find his room, B-228. For the first time, he truly wondered what his roommate was like. He's been so busy preparing for his departure that he hardly gave it a second thought. All he knew was that his name was John Fenton. He reached his door and put the key in the lock, only to see that the door was unlocked. He walked into the room, wiping the dust off his shoes on the worn gray carpet. He looked up, and flinched in surprise at the man standing before him; he was quite possibly the biggest man he'd ever seen, standing about 6'8 tall and weighing about 350 lbs. His jet black hair was styled into a mullet with copious amounts of hair gel, and his sky-blue eyes shined with an almost manic excitement.

"Hey, you must be Vladimir Masters!" He shouted happily, rushing towards him and nearly crushing his hand as he shook it.

"Um, yeah," Vlad sputtered, overwhelmed by the man's sheer force of personality as well as his gargantuan size. "But you can call me Vlad."

"Can do, V-Man!" he bellowed.

"Gee, we're already at the nickname stage!" Vlad chirped sarcastically.

"Yeah, isn't it the greatest!" John said, Vlad's trademark sarcasm going right over his head. "As you can probably tell, I'm John Fenton. But you can call me Jack."

"You got it, Jack." Vlad said.

"THAT'S MY NAME, DON'T WEAR IT OUT!" Jack yelled in a singsong voice, trying to do a spin before nearly falling over and knocking over a lamp with his huge hand in the process. Well, that's the first thing he's broken, Vlad thought, resigning himself to the fact that Jack breaking things was likely going to be a daily occurrence.

"Oops, sorry!" Jack apologized, seeming genuinely remorseful for his blunder. "I'll clean it up!

"Don't worry about!" Vlad quickly forgave him, brushing the shards of china into his hand and dumping them into the trash can, knowing that Jack would just make the mess worse if he tried to clean it up. "So," Vlad asked, trying to make small talk with his roommate. "What are you majoring in?"

"Engineering!" Jack replied excitedly. "I've always loved to build and invent things out of scrap piles and junk lying around the house. Figured I might try it out big time here. What about you?" Vlad was surprised by his well-thought out answer.

"Chemistry." He answered. "I've always been fascinated by how chemicals run everything, and the infinite ways you can combine them to get something else."

"Another science man, I see!" Jack remarked. "Nice to see we have something in common. So where are you from?" Despite his social awkwardness, Jack was very talkative. "Chicago." Vlad muttered nochalantly as he folded and packed his clothes away.

"Wow, you're from the city!" Jack said, his eyes wide in amazement. "I grew up in a log cabin in the Ozarks. I'm the youngest of ten. And the only boy!"

"You mean your parents had _nine_ daughters?" Vlad laughed incredulously, unable to disguise his disbelief at his new friend's improbable life story. But despite the craziness of it all, he had a feeling Jack was telling the truth. He didn't seem like he even knew how to lie.

"You bet!," Jack replied, continuing with his story as if that were the most normal thing in the world. "We slept five to a bed. When my dad went off to Vietnam in '67, my mom had to feed us all. And she wasn't the best hunter, so she killed one of our horses and we ended up eating it. Smokey was his name. And boy did he taste mighty fine!" Jack yelled, erupting in laughter at his own joke. Vlad nearly gagged at the thought of eating horsemeat. "Anyway, my old man came back, a little worse for the wear but mostly okay. Our lives were pretty quiet. Except for one thing."

"And what might that be?" Vlad asked, struggling not to laugh at Jack's suddenly dramatic tone.

"Ghosts. From the day I was born Mother and Dad taught me to beware of those suffering spooks!" Jack replied in a whisper, as if there were a ghost eavesdropping in the shadows.

"Ghosts?" Vlad laughed. "That's a bunch of bull! Everyone knows ghosts don't exist." He had tried to humor his goofy new friend, but this was simply too ridiculous to entertain.

"That's what they want you to believe," Jack said

"And who might _they_ be?" Vlad asked, still struggling to contain his laughter.

"Why the ghosts, of course!" Jack answered as if it were incredibly obvious. "They want you to believe they're not real. All the better for them to wreak havoc!"

He yelled, his expression growing fearful as he thought of the paranormal menace.

"Oh, come on." Vlad replied smugly. "Have you ever seen a ghost?"

"Well, no," Jack said, doubt creeping into his voice for half a second. "But if I ever do, I'll be prepared!" He declared, his determination quickly returning. "Why, I'll tear it apart-

"Geez, calm down." Vlad interjected. "You're starting to sound like my uncle Phil. He always swore JFK was abducted by aliens."

"Yeah, right." Jack scoffed. Vlad was momentarily relieved to hear something rational coming from the young man. "I mean, it's so obviousthe ghosts got him. Some people are so ignorant!" Vlad sighed, finally giving up. Clearly there was no way Jack was going to see reason. He decided to just be grateful with what he had. Things could be much worse. His roommate could be a snob, or a drunk, or worst of all, a disco fan. He shuddered at the thought, quickly banishing it from his mind. Jack might be a little strange-well, a lot strange-but at least he seemed like a nice, honest person. "Well enough about ghosts," Jack said, interrupting his introspection. "I could talk about them for hours, but I know the topic can be quite confusing for a newcomer like yourself. So, do you have any siblings?" He asked

"Well, uh, no." Vlad answered. His childhood was an uncomfortable subject. "I'm an only child." _As far as I know_ , he thought. His father could've had dozens of children since the last time he'd seen him

"Gee, that sounds crazy!" Jack remarked. "I can't even imagine it. A whole bedroom all to yourself! And no annoying sisters always making you play pretend. I can't tell you how many times I had to play the dragon in Sleeping Beauty!" He laughed.

"Yeah, sounds annoying," he mumbled unenthusiastically, feeling a pang of jealously at the thought of Jack's fun-filled childhood.

"So what did your old man do for a living?" Jack questioned.

Vlad's stomach seized up. They had landed upon the dreaded subject of his father.

"Can we please talk about something else?" Vlad asked, the smallest hint of desperation slipping into his voice.

"Oh, okay," Jack replied, quickly and kindly moving onto the next topic.

And so the roommates made small talk for the next hour or so, discussing mundane things such as the heavy traffic on the way to the campus and what kind of music they listened to. And to his surprise, Vlad could feel a friendship beginning to blossom. It was a strange feeling; outside of his cousins, he'd never had a real friend before. He hadn't been an outcast or anything like that; he'd simply preferred to keep to himself and quietly focus on his schoolwork, deadset on making it out of the ghetto. But still, he liked it; he was relieved to have someone to hang out with in such a new and unfamiliar place. And while Jack was undeniably weird, he wasn't weird in a malicious or creepy way. He was just quirky in a way that Vlad couldn't help but find endearing.

The rest of that weekend passed rather uneventfully, with Vlad spending most of his time sleeping or trying to memorize his schedule. By Monday morning, it was time for class, and Vlad hurried along, knowing that punctuality was key to being a good student, as well as currying favor with his professors. He only had three classes that day, with a long lunch break in between. Still, his first day of college was absolutley nerve-wracking, as he knew it was for the rest of the freshmen. After his lunch break, Vlad ambled along to his last class of the day, nuclear physics. He was still full from his rather large lunch, and he was starting to realize that the professors didn't give a rat's ass about whether you were on time or not. So he shuffled into class, carrying his ridiculously overpriced textbooks, looking forward to a long nap once he got back to his dorm. All of a sudden, he heard a bass voice booming from the back of the room.

"HEY, V-MAN!" the voice that he immediatley recognized as Jack bellowed. "COME SIT WITH ME!" The rest of the class turned and stared at their noisy peer, some glaring at him and some laughing. As Vlad walked towards the back of the room, their eyes turned to the "V-Man" in question. Vlad kept his head down and chuckled awkwardly, his cheeks burning with embarassment. He wasn't used to being the center of attention, especially in a negative way. Surprisingly, he felt no resentment towards Jack; it seemed as if his friend just couldn't help it. "Boy, am I glad to see you." Jack grinned. "Can you believe that I've had no one to talk to all day? Well I haven't! And none of my professors believe in ghosts. I was starting to wonder if I was gonna survive college!"

"Well, never fear, Jack" Vlad replied in a humorous voice "V-Man is here!"

"Now that's the spirit!" Jack cheered, clapping Vlad across the back with his giant hand. Vlad's body flew foward, the wind knocked out of him as his face smashed into the wooden table.

"Ouch!" he yelped instinctively, sitting up and rubbing his sore arms.

"Oh, uh, sorry." Jack apolgized, for once seeming embarrassed. "Sometimes I forg that not everyone is as big as me."

"Don't worry about it," Vlad laughed. "Everyone makes mistakes."

Their professor then walked in, a man who looked to be in his mid-60s, with a shock of white hair, hard grey eyes, a face lined with age, and an altogether austere bearing.

"I am Professor Hardwick. Welcome to nuclear physics. Before we get started, I want to let you all know that I do. not. play. games. Any funny business will get you a trip straight to the Dean's office. "Is that clear?"

The students stared at him in silence. "I said _is that clear_?" He repeated, anger seeping into his tone.

"Yes, Professor Hardwick!" The teenagers responded in unison, quickly sensing that their new professor was not someone to mess with.

"Now, any questions?" Professor Hardwick said smugly, confident he had gotten his point across. And like clockwork, Jack raised his hand. Vlad sighed and put his hand over his face, knowing that this wasn't going to end well. "The heavyset gentlemen in the back," the Professor said, pointing at Jack.

"Thank, you Professor." Jack said. "Now, are we going to be talking about ghosts at all in this class?"

" _Ghosts!"_ Hardwick sputtered "What did I just say!?"

"Oh, I can assure you I'm not messing with you." Jack replied in a polite manner.

"I simply want to know if we're going to talk about the most important issue of the modern world."

" _Most important issue_ -do you want to go to the Dean's office?" Hardwick threatened, giving up on trying to reason with the boy.

"Oh, um, no," Jack mumbled, not wanting to land himself in administrative trouble on his first day of college.

"Then I recommend that you shut your mouth immediatley. Understand?" Jack nodded, and in a move that was completely out of character, remained silent for the rest of the class period. The entire class, including Vlad, was struggling to hold back their laughter at the hilarious exchange. But while the rest of the class was simply laughing at a buffon, Vlad was enjoying the quirkiness of his first real friend. Maybe, he thought, college won't be so bad after all.

 **Well, it's finished! The first chapter of my very first story on this website. Please leave reviews, and be as honest as possible. Thank you for reading!**


	2. Girl

A week passed without much happening. Vlad went to class and diligently did all of his assigments. He could tell his teachers liked him for his responsible attitude, although he didn't talk to them much outside of answering questions in class. He would occasionally watch TV with Jack, whose favorite shows, of course, concerned ghosts. He spent a lot of his time sleeping. The next Monday, he walked into nuclear physics, expecting the same humdrum routine of last week. He slumped down next to Jack, who immediatley launched into one of his multiple daily ghost rants. Class soon started, and Vlad was jotting down notes when he heard a knock on the oak-paneled door.

"Come in," Hardwick said, not looking away from the chalkboard. The door creaked as it slowly opened, revealing the most ravishing creature Vlad had ever seen.

Everything about her was astonishingly beautiful from her long, smooth auburn hair, to her pale, porcelain skin, to her warm violet eyes and curvaceous body. She wore a white, floral sundress with calf-high brown leather boots and blue, circular plastic earrings. Within seconds of seeing her, Vlad knew he was love.

Hardwick, hearing her walk in, turned his head to look at the vision in white.

"Hello, he greeted her in a disinterested tone. "And who might you be?"

"Madeline Walker, she answered in a thick, honey-sweet Southern accent. _Madeline,_ Vlad thought. _So the angel does have a name. And what a lovely name._ "I sent you a letter telling you I was going to arrive a week late. You see, my great-grandma died two weeks ago, and with the funeral and everything, I just wasn't able to get here in time-"

"Spare me the plesantries, Miss Walker." Hardwick interrupted her. "Now please take your seat. As you can see, we're in the middle of a lesson." Madeline walked towards the back of the room, and Vlad's heart leapt as he saw her making her way towards them. _Please sit with us,_ he thought desperately . _Please sit with us._ Vlad's thoughts were interrupted by the most wonderful sound in the universe; the voice of Madeline Walker

"Hello," she said, sounding somewhat nervous. "May I sit with y'all?" Their small table had three seats, but no one wanted to sit near Jack and risk hearing a twenty-five minute tirade on ghosts.

"You can have my seat!" Vlad offered, getting up and letting Madeline sit in between him and Jack. In retrospect, he realized he should've just let her sit next to him, but he was desperate to impress her.

"Hi there!" Jack greeted her. Vlad jumped. He'd forgotten his friend was even there

"Hi," she said, reaching out a dainty hand to shake Jack's huge one. Even with his rudimentary knowledge of beauty products, Vlad couldn't help but be impressed with her perfectly manicured sky-blue nails, which were coordinated to match her earrings. "I'm John Fenton!" He introduced himself happily. "But you can call me Jack."

"Why, hello Jack," Madeline responded, amused to by his enthusiasm. "As you've already heard, I'm Madeline Walker. But you can call me Maddie." _What a sweet nickname,_ Vlad thought.

"That reminds me, I had a teacher named Maddie once. Maddie Mortowski." Jack commented, the easily distractable boy going off onto another one of his tangents. "She was old. And mean. And ugly." Jack wrinkled his nose at the memory. Maddie looked up at him, her brow furrowed in confusion as to whether or not he was insulting her . "Oh, but you're not!" Jack corrected himself, realizing his faux-paus. "You're nice and pretty!"

Vlad bristled at his friend complimenting his future girlfriend. _Alright, Vlad, don't jump to conclusions,_ he thought. _This is gonna take time and work._ _And don't mind Jack, you know how he is. He probably just means it in an innocent way._

"Well, thank you Jack, it's nice to have someone notice all this hard work," Maddie quipped, laughing lightheartedly as as she jokingly flipped her hair. "I like your nails!" Vlad blurted out, desperate to get her attention off of his roommate.

"Oh, uh, thanks." Maddie replied, slightly startled by the sudden remark from the seemingly quiet boy. "My cousin Julie painted them. Don't they look nice?"

"Yeah, they look great." Vlad complimented her, glad to have her attention. "Your cousin is really talented."

"She is." Maddie agreed "She's in her second year of beauty school."

"Oh, cool. My cousin owns a barber shop in Chi-

"Excuse me!" Their conversation was interrupted by a clearly annoyed Hardwick. "What did I say about talking in class?"

"I'm v-very sorry sir," Maddie stuttered an apology. "I-I was just trying to get acquainted with my classmates, and-"

"Quiet," Hardwick calmly ordered the teenager. "Since this is your first day, I'll spare you the lecture.

"But as for you two, Mr. Fenton, Mr. Masters,"

Vlad let out an exasperated sigh as the professor turned his aggravation towards the two boys.

"This is your final warning. Any more talking in class and you're going straight to the dean's office. Is that clear?

"Yes, Professor Hardwick," Vlad and Jack quickly mumbled in unison. And so the three students quietly jotted down notes, Vlad stealing covert glances at Maddie as often as he could. The bell rang, and following their routine, Vlad and Jack rose from their seats and headed out of the classroom towards the school cafeteria, where they walk out to eat lunch in one the campus' many courtyards. As they shuffled through the hallway, Jack chattering on about ghosts, Vlad suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw, to his immense delight, Maddie Walker.

"Hi fellas!" She sweetly greeted them. "You were awful nice to me back there, and I just thought I'd thank you. It's tough gettin' here late.

Vlad hoped his blushing wasn't as obvious to her as it was to him. "Oh, well, it's no trouble at all." He replied sheepishly.

"You're very welcome!" Jack loudly chimed in. Vlad sighed. _Why does he always have to butt in with her,_ he thought.

"I'm just doing what my mother taught me," Jack said, tipping an imaginary hat.

"Well, she taught you well," Maddie complimented him. _Goddamn, what is going on here? Am I being upstaged by a doof?_ Vlad wondered. _Alright, alright, chill out, man, don't be too hard on the guy, and besides, you just met the girl. Don't get ahead of yourself._ He didn't have a ton of experience with girls back home, but he was proficient enough. He'd gone on some dates, although he'd only ever had one real girlfriend, a friend of his Russian cousins, Irina Kuznetsov, another child of Soviet defectors. She was a sweet girl, but she wasn't the brightest bulb and they had little to talk about, so their relationship only lasted a few months. And while he wished her all the best, he wasn't too bummed out when they broke up. Then again, it didn't seem like she was either. Besides, Irina and any other girl he'd ever been with no longer mattered. Now there was only Maddie.

Vlad was brought out of his reminiscing by the sound of Jack and Maddie's rather animated conversation. She was grinning as he told her about his ten sisters in the Ozarks. _Shit, Vlad, say something! Don't just stand there like a dumbass!_ "So, Maddie, where are you from?" Vlad sputtered out the first thing that popped into his head. _Get it together, man._ He was usually so cool and calm. But something about Maddie made him tongue-tied.

"Well, I'm from a little town called Spittoon," she answered. "It's in Arkansas. Real tiny place, we only got about 2,000 people living there."

"Wow," Vlad replied. "I grew up in Chicago, so I can't imagine that. I'm used to quite a crowd."

"You mean you grew up in a big city!" Maddie's eyes lit up with excitement, and Vlad felt a surge of happiness as he saw her smile and knew he was the cause of it. "Oh man, I've always wanted to go to one. It's my lifelong dream to visit New York City. See the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty. Go to a real major league baseball game!

"Well, I've never been to New York, but I've been to many Cubs games in my life." Vlad remembered his aunt Francesca and uncle Angelo taking him to Wrigley Field with his cousins Bella, Antonia, and Vinny several times growing up. They were the only members of his Italian-American father's family that stayed in touch with him and his mother.

"Wow! You're so lucky!" Maddie said.

Vlad found Maddie's amazement at what he considered mundane to be absolutely adorable.

"I'd love to go to New York City!" Jack added. Vlad felt dejected as Maddie immediatley turned to him. "I hear there are lots of ghosts there!" _Oh this is just fan-fucking-tastic. This'll drive her away for sure._

"Ghosts?" Maddie said quizzically. "You believe in ghosts?"

"Why of course I do! I've been observing paranormal phonomena since I was knee-high."

"Well then that must've been a very long time ago ." Maddie commented. "You're taller than a horse on its hind legs!" At that, both Jack and Maddie laughed. From anyone else, Vlad would've thought that was an insult. But coming from Maddie's sweet voice, it almost sounded like a compliment. _Shit_. _Of All the people to be upstaged by, Scooby-doo over here takes the cake._

"Well, ghosts aren't very scientific," Maddie mused, continuing her conversation with Jack. "But they are quite interesting. My aunt Flora always swears she saw one. But then again, she did a lot of drugs in the 60s."

"Trust me Mads, ghosts are _very_ scientific. You just have to know where to look." _Great, she has a nickname now. What's next? A date at a haunted house? ._ Vlad's anger at this fact quickly faded. _Chill out. The guy loves nicknames. You were V-Man within seconds of meeting him. "_ Well that sounds fascinating." Maddie said. "Maybe we can all look together somday. _" Oh my God, she's probably the only person on the planet besides his parents and gajillion sisters that takes this shit seriously,_ Vlad thought, shocked that she seemed to take interest in or even believe Jack's theories. _But hey, maybe she's just humoring him. Besides, she did say "we all," and not just "we." And I'll even go on some stupid ghost-hunting expedition if it means I get to spend time with her._

"Aww, no." Maddie sighed, glancing at her pink plastic watch. "I was really enjoying our conversation, but I have to run over to my next class. But it was great meeting you guys!" To Vlad's surprise, she turned and gave Jack a quick hug. His jealously immediatley subsided when she turned and hugged him as well. Despite the fact that the hug lasted about two seconds, it was heavenly. Her hair smelled like cherry blossoms, and her smooth, soft arms felt lovely as they brushed against his neck.

She pulled away, and at his surprised expression, Maddie's pale cheeks flushed crimson. "Sorry, fellas. Back home everyone hugs everyone, so I'm just used to it."

"Oh, it's fine!" Vlad quickly replied, hoping he assuaged her embarrassment.

"Yeah hugs are awesome!" Jack added. "I used to hug my pet pig Shirley every morning when I went to go feed her!" _Someone needs to get this man on Johnny Carson stat. He'd have everyone in stiches without even trying._ Maddie laughed again, and it was a beautiful sound. It was so nice to hear that Vlad didn't even care that he wasn't the one making her laugh.

"Well before I go," Maddie said once she stopped laughing, "I'd like to give you both my number. Would you mind giving me yours as well?" _Yes yes yes!_ Even though she was giving both of them her number, Vlad was delighted to know that he at least had a chance. He'd beaten much worse odds in his young life. "Oh, of course. It's no trouble at all," Vlad smiled.

"Sure!" Jack enthusiastically agreed.

"Do either of you have a pen?" Maddie asked.

"Yeah! I mean yeah, I do," Vlad quickly answered, try to act calmer than he really felt. Girls didn't like it when a guy got all starry-eyed in front of them. He fished an old, scratched-up blue pen from his pocket and handed to her. She tore four tiny scraps of paper out of her notebook, handing two to the boys and writing her own number on the other two. They all jotted down their numbers and passed the little slips of paper to each other. "Buy fellas!" Maddie yelled down the hallway as she walked away. "It was great meetin' y'all! Call soon!"

Vlad and Jack watched her gorgeous form get smaller and smaller as she dissapeared down the long, narrow grey hallway and turned down the linoleum steps.

"Wow, she is sure is something." Jack commented. "Yeah," Vlad agreed, too entranced to feel any jealousy. "She sure is."

 **Wow, that chapter was a lot longer than the last one! We seem to have a little love triangle on our hands here.** **I know Vlad seems to resent Jack somewhat here, but I promise it's just romantic jealousy. Their friendship will continue to flourish. I also promise I have a lot in store for these characters, and the many more characters that will show up along the way. There some be some familiar faces, and some new ones too. This story in currently in Vlad's POV, but I expect to write from different POVs as this story continues. From now on I will always show whose POV it is at the beginning of the chapter. And anytime I'm writing a characters' internal thoughts, it will be in italics, _like this._ I would like to add that each chapter will be named after a song from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, when this trio was born and grew up. I highly recommend you listen to all of these songs. The last chapter was named after _Only The Beginning_ by Chicago, and this chapter is named after _Girl_ by The Beatles. It should also be noted that while in the show Maddie had big 80s hair and leg-warmers during flashbacks, this is still the very early 80s, so most of the trends from the late 70s were still going strong. But don't worry, Maddie and the rest of the characters will be in all their 80s glory soon enough . Please leave reviews, and be as honest as possible. And as always, thank you for reading! **


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